My Bondage and My Freedom

Content warning: This section of the guide discusses racism, enslavement, and suicide.

Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, a town in Talbot County on the eastern shore of Maryland, near the larger town of Easton. Douglass describes the white community of Tuckahoe as “indolent and drunken” (45). He expresses uncertainty about the time and place of his birth as well as his parentage. For the reader unaware of Southern customs regarding enslaved people, he asserts that paternity is irrelevant where enslaved people are concerned. Southern custom also dissuades enslaved people from asking any questions regarding their age, inquiries seen as “impudent curiosity” (47). Douglass figures that he was born in 1817. He spent his childhood living in a cabin with his grandparents, Betsey and Isaac Baily [sic]. Betsey, he recalls, was a good nurse and adept at making fishing nets, which were in great demand in the region. She was herself an adept fisherwoman and good at planting seedling sweet potatoes—another skill for which her neighbors sought her counsel.

Many other children—all of them Betsey’s grandchildren—occupied the Baily cabin with Douglass. Betsey had five daughters: Jenny, Esther, Milly, Priscilla, and Harriet—the last was Douglass’s mother. Betsey’s main duty was to raise her daughters’ children, all of whom belonged to her enslaver.